[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 21 (Wednesday, March 2, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
     THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OFFICE OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL

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                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 2, 1994

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to take this occasion to note that 
last week was the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Office 
of the Legislative Counsel of the House. In the midst of our daily 
debates on legislation, we should stop for a moment and recognize the 
men and women who work in this office, and we should also acknowledge 
that, to the extent that there is clarity, reason, and structure to the 
legislation we debate, it is largely because of their efforts.
  Unthinkable as it is now that the Congress should ever have been 
without a legislative counsel, it was not until 1919 that the Congress 
established a formal drafting service for legislation. That service, 
built upon the work of the Law Librarian of the Library of Congress, 
was created as part of the Revenue Act of 1918, which was enacted 75 
years ago today. More than 50 years later, the Office of Legislative 
Counsel was formally chartered to serve as it does today.
  The office now is composed of fewer than 50 people, about two-thirds 
of them staff attorneys. The office drafts bills and amendments on a 
nonpartisan basis and advises all Members of the scope and effect of 
current law and proposed legislation. In the words of its charter, the 
office assists the House ``in the achievement of a clear, faithful, and 
coherent expression of legislative policies.'' The office does so, for 
Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike, taking no position on 
the advisability of policy and acting only to ensure that whatever 
language is enacted clearly states the authors' intent.
  I have worked with this office for years now. Indeed, the current 
Legislative Counsel of the House, David Meade, has drafted most of the 
public health law of the land and has worked closely with the majority 
and minority of the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment. He has 
advised us constantly on the law and our proposals to amend it, and he 
is personally responsible for making the statutes plain and direct and 
stylistically clear. Now, in his current role as the head of the 
office, he oversees a staff who have undertaken everything from clean 
air to health reform to AIDS policy for the subcommittee.
  I want to express my appreciation to Mr. Meade and to his staff for 
their diligent efforts on behalf of the Health Subcommittee and all 
their other clients in the House. I want to congratulate this office 
for their work. And I want to encourage my colleagues to take note of 
this anniversary and to appreciate the professionalism and patience of 
these people who help make our jobs productive.

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